Rose Ave. Overpass Is a Real Thorn in the Side of Drivers

Dear Street Smart:

In Oxnard, the work on Gonzales Road between Oxnard Boulevard and Rose Avenue is almost finished, giving us four lanes of traffic. Then Rose Avenue bears to the left and goes over the freeway, narrowing to just two lanes--one in each direction.

With the proposed Wal-Mart going in and all of the shops on Via Del Norte, are there plans to widen the Ventura Freeway overpass? It’s a real bottleneck.

Betsy Jackson, Oxnard

Dear Reader:

Judging by the questions Street Smart has received in recent weeks--including this letter and the next one--lots of folks in Oxnard want to see improvements where Rose Avenue meets the freeway.

There seems to be confusion about who intends to do what to this interchange.

First, the city plans to spend about $400,000 this year for a few “Band-Aid” changes at the interchange, says Bob Weithofer, Oxnard’s design engineering manager.

Beginning in August, the city will expand Rose Avenue to four lanes, just south of the overpass. It will install signal lights instead of stop signs at the freeway ramps to improve the traffic flow and provide new turn lanes to make it easier to get onto the freeway.

In 1995, the city will spend about $16 million to widen the Rose Avenue overpass to six lanes, eliminating the bottleneck. It will also rebuild all of the freeway ramps to get rid of the sharp curves and make it easier to merge.

Which brings us to our second Rose Avenue letter. . . .

*

Dear Street Smart:

I have a question about the Rose Avenue ramp project and Ventura Freeway widening there.

I live on Echo Street, which runs alongside the freeway near Rose. Does Caltrans plan to take houses near the off-ramp on the southbound side of the freeway for widening?

Suzanne O’Grady, Oxnard

Dear Reader:

To clear up one point of confusion, the Rose Avenue ramp and overpass project is being done by the city, not Caltrans. The money is coming from developers of the new stores, hospital and auto dealerships near this interchange.

But to answer your question: No, the widening of the Rose Avenue bridge and the rebuilding of the ramps will not require the destruction of any adjacent houses.

In fact, says Weithofer, the new ramps were designed specifically to avoid that.

Another bit of confusion needs to be cleared up. Despite all the work being done at the Rose Avenue interchange, there are no immediate plans to widen the freeway itself from six to eight lanes in Oxnard.

The new overpass will be wide enough to accommodate an eight-lane freeway, but any widening is at least 20 years away, says Chris Stephens, a Ventura County Transportation Commission staff member.

So rest easy. It’s likely to be a long time before any bulldozers draw a bead on your house.

*

Dear Street Smart:

I own a home on Chesterton Street in Simi Valley. Chesterton parallels the Simi Valley Freeway between Sycamore Drive and Erringer Road.

Some time ago, the neighborhood presented a petition to Caltrans to have a sound barrier erected to ease the freeway noise.

Caltrans stated at the time that it was on the drawing board and that it was to be completed about three years ago.

Is it possible to get word on the status of the sound wall and perhaps let Caltrans know the problem is getting worse?

Gene Lapp, Simi Valley

Dear Reader:

Sound walls, which cost just over $1 million per mile, are Caltrans’ way of saying they’re sorry for freeway noise. But not every neighborhood qualifies for one.

When the state went on a freeway-building frenzy in the 1950s and ‘60s, Caltrans assured residents along these routes that lush highway landscaping would muffle the noise.

“We believed that, and it worked for a little while,” says Bill Minter, a Caltrans sound wall project engineer.

But as the freeways became busier, the noise increased. So in 1974, Caltrans began building walls between freeways and nearby neighborhoods.

Timing is the key. To get on Caltrans’ sound wall project list, your house must have been built before the freeway. If your house was built afterward, the state believes you should have known that your neighborhood would not be the quietest place in town.

In 1988, Caltrans looked at the Simi Valley neighborhoods north of the freeway between Erringer and Sycamore, Minter says. The agency concluded that the older houses on Woodrow Avenue qualify for a wall. But the newer houses on Chesterton don’t because they were built after the freeway went in.

Because of a backlog of requests and limited funds, a sound wall along Woodrow is probably at least 10 years away, Minter says.

However, that wall--and one along Chesterton--could be built earlier if the city pays or the residents do, through an assessment district.

*

Dear Street Smart:

Just off California 33 between Ventura and Ojai, Old Creek Road crosses the San Antonio Creek. This low concrete bridge has been flooded for months because of the heavy winter rain and a buildup of sediment.

We are told by the county that this can’t be unclogged because the state Fish and Game Department says no more grading can take place in the creek. But we understand that Fish and Game will allow grading if the county asks for permission.

We are driving through 1 1/2 to 2 feet of water daily to get across this bridge. Can anything be done?

Richard and Pam Ashby, Oak View

Dear Reader:

What we have here is the proverbial bridge in troubled waters.

Beneath this bridge is a drain pipe that, under normal circumstances, carries water through the crossing and away from the cars. This culvert is indeed clogged.

Fish and Game officials probably would not stop the county from clearing this drain, says Butch Britt, the county’s deputy public works director. But the county has no plans to do so. “It wouldn’t make any difference,” Britt insists.

County officials believe the flooding is caused by a buildup of sediment downstream, where the creek runs through private land. Britt said the county can’t use public money to clear a channel on private property.

The residents who use the flooded crossing should contact the people who own the land where the stream is congested and work out some way to clear it, Britt suggests.

When that’s done, the county will clean out its own clogged culvert, he says. With any luck, the troubled water will then disappear down the drain.